The great inner geologist debate

"There are three types of rocks...ignaramous, just another dumb rock...metaphoric, they were something and now they were something else...and sedintary, they just sit there." - geologic parody

"If I am not happy with the job I am doing for the rest of my life...kill me." - Me

I got a couple books at the library a few days ago (though I have yet to finish a few other books I've started). I've been reading one every night for the past week or so called Volcano Cowboys. It is a book about the Mt. St. Helen's 1980 eruption and all the events leading up to and processing the data afterwards. I have always had a heavy interest in Vulcanology. As I kid I loved watching the programs where they showed Hawaii eruptions, very very cool. And aparently recently a volcano in Alaska has started steaming again.

You are probably wondering what this has to do with anything, but I am at the point in my degree where I need to make a career choice. Until I went to talk to profs and grads at ASU this past spring, I thought thinking I wanted to specialize in planetary geology was enough. However, I need to further narrow my field down and that will help in my choice for research and grad school options.

Here are the choices:

Oil: YEAH RIGHT! I hate oil. Oil logs are boring, the industy is going to bottom out in our lifetimes....no no no....even though I can travel, no. Plus oil on Mars? Doubt it.

Mineralogy: I don't like the microscope work all that much. And I really can't grasp some of the demensional and math involved with crystal formation and cleaving. Very complex, best left for near engineer minds.

Petrology: So I had the worst petro class, it sucked. Petrology as I could grasp is the understanding of metamorphic and igneous rocks and the way the earth is formed. Now I think Vulcanology is just like a really specific type of petrology. If this is the case, petrology blows but vulcanology is cool. Plus there are volcanoes on Mars.

Sedimentology and Stratigraphy: I loved sed/strat. It studies the way deposits are formed by wind, water and other weather processes. I do like it and it applies to alot of other branches of geology as far as where you can go with it. There is bedrock and supposed Dassani-er I mean water on Mars. I also start a new job in the geology dept. in one of the sed/strat areas (more related to oil but it is computer mapping so I can deal).

Structure: Take it this fall. Should be interesting at least.

Geophysics: Take it in the Spring with the crazy Brit prof who send folks over the summer to Pakistan to set up GPS units.

Geochemisty: Bless Lang's heart but I am not a geochem orriented person. Lab work is very tedious and often boring. It's nice to know that I would be able to process my own samples if I needed though.

Feild: What ever I do...I want to do mostly field work (that is why both sed/strat and vulcanology are so appealing). I LOVE BEING IN THE FIELD. For me it is the best part about doing geology. Not only do you get to be outside and in really amazing areas but you also apply what you learn in class to real life applications.

Those are the main choices I have thought about. I have two main choices for grad school right now, Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of Hawaii. If I got to either, I can do vulcanology. If I would go to Hawaii, I might be able to hook up with U.S.G.S. on the Hawaii Volcano Observatory and also get to work with profs with telescope work and observing. ASU has quite a bit to offer including profs that work closely with NASA and the Moon Mars Project. I could work on tectites (volcano ejecta, like little bit of glass and rock) and basically dead volcanoes. The have geology wind group down there too that works on sand deposition. But then I also love glaciers too, they are really cool as well. With vulcanology I can travel to Japan and Indonesia and even semi-locally to the Cascades. But ther is a lot of travel involved with glaciers too.

*sigh* I really don't know what to do...hot rocks, cold rocks...

I think once fall semester starts up I am going to start contacting professors at different universities about their field (maybe read some of their publications) and see if anyone has a research position open for the summer. If I get someone who does planetary stuff (which will be most of the people I contact), then I can try for NASA grants to fund my trip and hopefully (and most likely) field work. I learned by doing that there are parts of geology I do not want to do for a living.

Anyway, there is your rock knowledge about my inner debate right now. And like I said if worse comes to worse and they don't take me, I will camp out on NASA doorstep with a cardboard sign and a cup..."Send Steppie to Mars in one of those tin cans".